I'd say this is rather lolita related. There's a lot of historical and fanciful clothing involved and they've been features in Gothic & Lolita Bibles, but we're gonna take a quick detour right now.
I'm not an incredibly devoted fan, I can't name all five troupes of the Revue off the top of my head, the only actress' name I know is Ayaki Nao, but I do love the Takarazuka Revue.
For those who don't know, it is an all female theater troupe in Japan that performs musicals. In fact, it's the only all female performance troupe in the world. The actresses are split into two roles in the school. Otokoyaku for the male players and Musumeyaku for the female players, and for the most part are tied to these roles throughout their career.
Takarazuka does many musicals from all over the world. From the American West Side Story, to the Austrian Elisabeth (You'll see more about this one Friday.), to an adaptation of the popular Japanese manga Rose of Versailles. They do everything from comedy to drama. They even have a Phoenix Wright musical. I shit you not. You can learn more about Takarazuka at their english webpage and on their wikipedia article. I could tell you more but now I'm going to get to the eye and ear candy.
Phantom (of the Opera)
Rose of Versailles
Gone with the Wind
I can't really suggest a place for you to buy videos of any of these plays, unfortunately. Japan is rather possessive when it comes to Takarazuka and your best bet would be through a shopping service. But be warned that they can get expensive.
However, if you don't mind unofficial videos and would like subtitles, the fans over at the Takarazuka Insanity Project have quite a few translated titles under their belt. They make no money whatsoever, you only pay for the cost of the DVD and the shipping. I have a few plays from them and can say they do a wonderful job over there. The quality isn't the best, but that is in order to encourage you to buy the real DVDs.
And with that I'll leave you with one last present. I assure you, you're not ready for this.
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This is so cool! I have never heard of them before, but I'll definitely have to check them out more! Also, the Final Countdown. I don't even know what to say about it. There are no words. I can't decide if it's the most awesome thing I've ever seen, or the most awful, lol.
ReplyDeleteYay for more Takarazuka Revue fans! I think the best way to get VHS and DVDs cheaper is to buy is to buy them used on the takarazuka revue group on lj. I haven't bought any from there myself but, there seem to be quite a few sales posts as of late. So far I've just used Celga straight from the Hankyu site.
ReplyDeleteI've been going in and out of the fandom for about 3 years now I think. I usually drop out when one of my favorites graduate (or like this year 2 of them Sena Jun, former top star of Moon and Ayabuki Mao from Star). I'm no expert on the Revue yet but, I find lurking the takarazuka group on lj and the journals of more vocal members from there as well as the TakaWiki is helping.
Ack. Sorry for the essay. -_-;;
@Mariko - isn't that video amazing? I fell over laughing the first time I saw it.
ReplyDelete@bigbad88 - I never thought about joining the lj community! Thank you for pointing that out. I'm definitely following them now. I'm not crazy into the fandom but I do love watching their stuff. There's one more post I'm doing half about them this friday so keep an eye out for it!